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Decline of the Kingdom of Aksum
In the 8th century, the East African Kingdom of Aksum experienced a political shift inland, changes in Red Sea trade patterns, and environmental pres…
Timeline
- 701–750Red Sea ports (traditional commercial ports such as Adulis) · Red SeaAfter the expansion of Islamic powers, the focus of Red Sea shipping and trade routes changed; the transit trade and tariff income Aksum relied on declined, weakening the kingdom's finances and external influence.
- 750–800Ethiopian Highlands interior · EthiopiaRoyal and administrative power gradually shifted to the highland agricultural core; the city of Aksum, though still retaining religious and stone-carving heritage as an imperial symbol, saw its political and military functions clearly decline, and coinage issuance also largely ceased.
Sources
- Phillipson, D.W., Foundations of an African Civilisation: Aksum and the Northern Horn, 1000 BC - AD 1300 — David W. Phillipson (2012)
- UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. III: Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century (1988)